It's a terrible thing when the standards of a well loved restaurant begin to fall.
This happened to us recently with a restaurant that we've been visiting for over 40 years. In fact we'd almost lost faith, and decided that our last visit was to be our 'last' visit.
This was not entirely their fault. The French government (in their heightened wisdom) have decided that home grown vegetables, home produced charcuterie, and just about anything else that does not emanate from a factory, is no longer allowed to be served in a restaurant. 'Sanitization' is the current byword; hence the terrible decline in the quality of French cuisine.
However, 40 years of fine lunches, all cooked by the same female hands, can't be abandoned just like that, and we have continued to give them several 'one final chances'; and I'm so pleased we did, as we have just eaten a meal that was back to the 'good old days' standards.
A simple vermicelli soup. An entrée of quiche, celariac in mayo, salad, and hard boiled eggs. A main course of roast beef, stuffed veal, french fries, and peas cooked with bacon. A small selection of cheeses. And to finish, a simple refreshing lime sorbet (above).
All this, several kisses, as much wine we could consume, and plenty of time spent chatting with old friends, all for just €14 each. Can't be bad.
N.B. I'm not mentioning the name or location of this restaurant for various reasons; fame tends to corrupt.
This is so curious. Here in Seattle, the trend is as-much-as-possible from the resident garden/kitchen. Sad to hear what's happening over there.
ReplyDelete"home grown vegetables, home produced charcuterie, and just about anything else that does not emanate from a factory, is no longer allowed to be served in a restaurant." ....are they MAD???? This is insanity! I thought the French, of all people, would be more rational.
ReplyDeleteOn the other side of the car park from the restaurant are a row of 4 pigsties. These used to be filled with pigs.... now empty. Banned.
DeleteI thought food was sacred to the French. Totally barmy. Is this Brussels or Paris?
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling it's Paris. Elf-n-safety probably.
DeleteBloody Elfin-Safety. That's what should be banned.
DeleteYour meal sounds good enough to it - it's a crazy world we live in that's for sure.
ReplyDeletethat should read good enough to eat!
ReplyDeleteHow very strange that the French should have brought in that legislation. I live a few miles from Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, where he grows all his own vegetables and prides himself on sourcing other locally produced food, of all types.
ReplyDeleteMaybe there's hope for us over here yet!
That's probably why he moved!
DeleteThat was some lunch! Did you sleep all afternoon?
ReplyDeleteA very simple light lunch for here. Lorry drivers eat that, and drink plenty of wine etc, then go back to work. Not sure how they do it!
DeleteYum, sounds wonderful. We had friends who raised goats (about 6), and supplied their exquisite own-made goats' cheeses to a select number of NZ restaurants. OUR equivalent elf and safety said they had to have stainless steel in their dairy room. They put it in, and never again were able to make the good cheeses, and gave it up. Sad.
ReplyDeleteThis is a problem "à double tranchant". If you have honest little restaurants with regional home made food , prepared and stored in a correct way it's ok , but one of my friends failed to die of food empoisening after a lunch in such a nice looking restaurant, he felt in coma for 3 weeks. After a control of health advisors they found many problems in the kitchen. So probably we must find a way in between.
ReplyDeleteThere several of these restaurants in the Peak District where they hunt and kill wild rabbits and serve with wild garlic for safety purposes to kill the bacteria. Cooking is usually done in the open air. Food poisoning is unheard of as is food empoisoning.
DeleteI do not know the right verb to use. The food was not good and no more ok for cooking.You see my English needs to improve. Cooking with regional food is the best and we should trust those people.
ReplyDeleteNo like fuck you don't.
DeleteIt would appear that the French powers above seem to have lost their marbles with this one. Perhaps the world should be 'sanitized' from such ludicrous laws?
ReplyDeleteBonkers, isn't it.
Delete"From farm to table" is the latest catchphrase for the better restaurants in my area. Glutton-free is also a trend.
ReplyDeleteGlutton-free, or Gluten-free?
DeleteI can't believe that France is succumbing to ' elf and safety ' issues. I thought that they had always avoided it. When we had a boat in France, we used to tie up somewhere and someone would take us to their house and feed us all sorts of wonderful things. I guess that doesn't happen now.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that the restaurant that you have frequented for 40 years is back to it's old self Cro. XXXX
It'll never return to how it used to be, but the standard was good. That's the important bit.
DeleteHere they are very 'serve local' which makes for delicious meals.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure mostly it's 'local' here too, but it used to come from the surrounding fields, hen houses, and pigsties.
DeleteHopefully the pendulum will swing. Locally sourced is the in thing stateside nowadays and yet, at the schools, homemade baked goods can no longer be passed out to the children. Must be store bought and packaged. Why do governments think they always know what is best for us and enforce their terrible agendas on us?
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